BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

02/06/2008

U.S. national arrested in Belarus will be charged with drug trafficking

MINSK. June 2 (Interfax) - New charges will soon be brought against U.S citizen Emanuel Zeltser in relation to a new criminal case opened against him last week, a source in Belarusian law enforcement told Interfax on Monday.

"Charges of contraband and illicit drug trafficking may be brought against Zeltser this week," the source said.

Earlier head of the Belarusian KGB PR center Valery Nadtachayev said that a criminal case had been started against Zeltser last week under articles of the Criminal Code dealing with contraband and illicit trade in drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.

Over 100 pills of codeine and other medicines had been seized from Zeltser in which narcotic and psychotropic substances were discovered, Nadtachayev said.

A pre-trial investigation continues and the findings may be sent to court in June, he said.

Zeltser was detained in Minsk on March 12, 2008. He was accused of fraud under prior collusion and placed in a detention facility in Minsk, were he currently remains.

Zeltser's lawyer Dmitry Goryachko told Interfax that the investigation claims that his client had transported drugs and psychotropic substances around Belarus. "But these are medicines that my client was taking. These are medicines that he was denied at the detention facility," the lawyer said.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/3/399259/news.aspx

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